Musical Space: How To Turn Your House Into A Concert Venue

Things are changing in the live music business. Clubs aren’t hiring live acts like they used to, and corporate integration has changed the concert scene into mainstream monotony. On the bright side, though, house concerts--musical events in private homes--are emerging as the hot, new venue.

A living room, after all, is the ideal listening environment: homey, comfortable and intimate; it’s the perfect social setting, too, for the same reasons. House concerts have become the ideal way for someone to host a memorable party while supporting a traditional or alternative style that can’t make it into the tight playlists of commercial radio.

The economic model is simple and direct. Hosts typically offer room and board to the players and ask their guests to make a $10-30 donation. And they can be very successful; concerts at the homes of Ted Farha and Barney Byard and Linda Cunningham have famously become too big for their living rooms. Local musicians like Aaron Fowler and Nikki Moddelmog say playing in someone’s home is a lot more fun and pays better than at a club, and is essential for making a tour possible.

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